Letter-box.



No. 67|,343. Patented Apr. 2, |901, J. KINNEN.

LETTER BOX.

(Application led Sept. 13, 1900.1

(No Model.)

Imm-mm /20 JOHN KINNEN, OF VORIS, MISSOURI.

LETTER-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 671,343, dated April 2, 1901.

Application tiled September 13, 1900. Serial No. 29,940. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom, t may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN KINNEN, a subject of the Emperor of Germany, residing at Voris, in the county ofBuchanan and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Letter-BoXes and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and usethe same.

My invention relates ,to letter-boxes designed for use upon the street-doors of private residences or other houses where private mail-boxes or partnership mail-boxes may be desired by the occupants; and the invention consists in the construction and novel combination of the several parts of the same, as hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings hereto annexed and forming a part of this specilication, Figure l is a view in front elevation of my improved letter-box, showing the doors of the box in the open position, the spring-controlled alarm in place in one of the rooms of the residence, and the rocking guide-arms, to which are attached the sections of the operating-wire for operating said spring-actuated bell-hammer to sound an alarm ou the bell. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional View taken on the line :n in Fig. 1.

Referring by numerals to the accompanying drawings, 1 designates the casing of the letter-box, which casing contains a receptacle 2 for the reception of letter-mail, having a deposit-slit 2a in its cover 3 and a downwardly and outwardly opening hinged door 1, provided on its outer facewith a hasp 5, projecting beyond the upper` edge of said door 4. and adapted to engage a staple 6 near the lower edge of the name-plate section 7, which staple is designed to receive a padlock for securing the hasp 5 upon said staple, thereby locking the door 4. Said door 4. is provided on its inner face with retaining-arms 8 9, which are curved upwardly at their inner ends and are adapted to contact with inwardly-projecting stop-lugs or staples 10, which prevent the door 4. from dropping down to or below the level of the hinges which secure its lower edge to the casing.

1l is a cover-section placed above the rear portion of the letter-receptacle of the letterbox, and 12 is a lid hinged to said cover-section l1.

13 is a grooved pulley-wheel over which the lower end of a cord or -wire 14 runs, said pulley-wheel13 being supported on a bearing or shaft 15 at the lower end of an angularlybent rod 16, having a bearing 17, projecting from the rear wall of the incasement directly under the slitted cover of said letter-receptacle to permit said pulley-wheel to have slight motion backward and forward on its bearing to prevent injury thereto from overstrain upon the sudden or violent opening or closing of the lid l2. The lower end of the cord or wire 14 is passed down around the grooved periphery of said pulley-wheel 13, up through a slot 18 near the front at one end of the cover 3, and is connected at its upper end with the lower face of the hinged lid 12 by a staple 19 or other suitable connection.

2O is a gravity-catch hinged to one of the supports for the newspaper-section 21 of the letter-box, said gravity-catch requiring to be lifted in order to close the lid of the lettersection of the letter-box after the letter-mail has been deposited in said letter-receptacle.

The upper end of the cord or wire 14 projects upwardly through an opening 22 in the top of the casing near a rear corner of the same and. is provided with a hook 23, which is connected to the lower end of a wire 241, leading up to the lower arm 25 of the rocking arms 25 26, connected to a rocking disk pivoted upon a base or block 27, secured to the wall of the room immediately under the ceiling of the room.

29 is a rocking disk secured upon a suitf able axis and provided with a hammer-arm and hammer 30 and a lever-arm 31, preferably made integral with it, and both being secured to the outer face of said rocking disk 29. Said -lever-arm 31 is crank form in shape and is connected to the free end of a coilspring 32, the other end of said coil-spring 32 being secu red to a suitable standard 32a, fixed in the upper edge ot` the base or 4block 28. 33 is a gong secured to the outer face of said block 28 in a position to be struck by the hammer on the hammer-arm 30. The leverarm 31 is connected to a wire 34, which is connected with the upper arm 26 of said rocking arms 25 and 26, so that when the IOO letter-mail is to be deposited inthe letter-i receptacle and the lid thereto has been raised for said purpose the alarm or gong will be sounded, thereby notifying the inmates of the dwelling that mail is about to be depos ited in the letter-box.

Various changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details of construction may be resorted to without depart-ing from the pri-noiple or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention,

Having thus fully described my invention,

what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters In a letter-box,.theeombination of a easing having a receptacle for mail-matter, a Verti- JOHN KINNEN.

Witnesses: y

J. B. OCoNNoR, JOHN D. MCNEELY. 

